September 23, 2010

Here it is.... a $4 thrift shop find in it's original dirt and grime....

...and now it sits all pretty on top of my short bookshelf in the craft room! It's good for holding little jars, paint brushes, and all our assortment of special markers and colored pencils along with some standard cardstock. We are in this room daily (and even nightly sometimes like last night when we were finishing up my daughter's big school project until 10 pm--yuck!) so it is nice to have everything right on hand!

September 19, 2010

We bought our dining room table about 15 years ago. One of our very first "new" purchases for our home.

It has served us well.

We have memories related to most of the scratches, dents, dings, watermarks...

I've known she's needed a facelift for quite a while now, but I've been living in the wonderful land of denial for quite some time now. It's only been recently, when I've seen her sisters a couple of times at our local thrift store, that I started thinking it was time. If you've ever painted chairs, you know what a dreaded ordeal it is. (In my case times six.)

Ready to see her former self?

As you can see, the chairs had already been painted before, but they REALLY needed a fresh coat.

I began by giving everything a good sanding, completely removing the finish off of the top of the table by using progressively finer grits of sandpaper.

There was a tiny groove about two inches in around the perimeter of the table top who's sole purpose, I am sure, was to collect every dropped crumb and spill. I went ahead and filled it in with wood putty before I sanded everything. (Sorry, I am horrible about taking pictures, and have been chastized by my hubby for my neglect. I get better in a bit. You'll see.)

Then, I painted the table base and the chairs a fresh coat of white left over from painting the cabinets in my kitchen. (I might post about that one day.)

First, here are the chairs...

I love the current number craze, and couldn't resist andding them to the tops of my chairs. I just used a little bottle of Dark brown craft paint. I also added a distressed look by adding a few "wear" marks with the same paint.As for the fabric I really wanted a neutral natural fabric, but couldn't find what I needed at the store. Then I realized I already have what I needed. See!

I used the backside of a fabric that I already had.

This is the first time I haven't added a clear plastic layer over the top of the fabric. (Not very pretty, but practical when you have four kids... and a husband) We'll see how long these stay clean without it.

While I liked the simplicity of the fabric, I felt it needed a little something more. Ready for the pictures I promised?

I added what my husband has termed "racing stripes" to the seats.

Here is the pictoral process of how I did it.

The green tape is to mark the 2" center stripe, I'm not a big fan of measuring! So I guesstimated everything. I removed the green tape before I painted.

I wanted to have a half inch gap between the outer stripes, but I couldn't find any. So I got out my trusty cutting board and cut 1" masking tape in half.

What would I do without my cutting board?

Pretty much nothing, that's what.

I just used the same craft paint that I used to paint the numbers. I brushed it on with a very dry foam brush.

I remove the tape immediately. (Because the paint was so lightly dry brushed on, it dried almost instantly.) And Voila!

Finally, I stained the table top a darker color (scary, this was the first time I've ever staind bare wood before) Then I gave it a few bazillion, okay 6, coats of sealer with Minwax PolyAcrylic in satin. That should hopefully keep my grubby, furniture destroying... I mean my lovely, careful children from destroying the top again for about a week.

Here she is in all her glory...

Sorry for the bad lighting and slight bluriness. My camera's dying so I had to use my cell phone camera.I think it ties in with my decor SOOO much better now, and it is no longer so dated.

See where the grove used to be? No? My kids all noticed immediately. In fact it was the first thing they commented on. No more scraping out the goop...bliss.My only current tablescape is a basket of placemats. (I'm thinking about sewing new ones to match the decor) My kids have been threatened with their lives if they don't use them!

They are already assigning "numbers" at dinner time for who will sit where.

I must say this is one of my most favorite makeovers I've done in quite a while. I am VERY happy with the results!

Welcome to Right at Home. We are all sisters {and Mom}! We live in different cities & states. We all have our own unique talents & interests, but we are bound by a love of our families & each other. We enjoy being creative & are constantly coming across new ideas & interesting projects. This blog is a place for us to come & share the inspirations & ideas that help us enhance our homes & families. We hope you feel right at home...